Introduction

To be here in the moment enjoying yourself while maintaining an achievement oriented life, i.e. chop wood, carry water, is the challenge of modern man.

If a man has important work, and enough leisure and income to enable him to do it properly, he is in possession of as much happiness as is good for any of the children of Adam. __author unknown

We are inundated with media telling us how to be happy. Usually by buying a sexy car, the latest fashion statement garb, fantastically seductive perfume, or an exotic vacation being proffered by professional marketers who sell dreams that you can pay for on your Golden credit card. The Magic of the Credit System has empowered you to get into debt on a whim and to continue working to pay down your bank debt for many years thereafter.

Your first goal should be to know your limits and to know yourself to avoid being jostled in every direction by media hype and ending indebted and unhappy. "He who will not economize will have to agonize." You need to know what you want out of life and to set priorities around dreams of your own making. Not listening to hype delivered into your living room from a lighted box like sewer pouring out of a broken culvert.


Aristotle says, "All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion, desire."

My purpose here is to consolidate my notes about how to to live a lifestyle that is satisfying and in accordance with principles of compassion and deep respect for the Planet and its biosphere, atmosphere and noosphere.*


For several years I have practically drowned myself reading books about how we can live a happy existence in the modern world, like "Modern Man In Search of a Soul". We live in the age of alienation and have been in this state a long, long time according to people like Eric Fromm.

"The smallest bookstore still contains more ideas of worth than have been presented in the entire history of television."


How do we learn to know our own mind and to think for ourselves among so many competing messages give by the media, our peers, our church or our own wanton desires. It is not an easy thing finding the right path and there are many distractions and disasters to avoid on your way to a meaningful existence.

If you do not follow a religion or have strong character role models in your life, you are given the task to think critically and to learn what is important to you in life. Learning by trial and error takes too long and is too fraught with danger. We do not live long enough to make many mistakes so you need to exercise caution and good judgment. Like Joe Frazier said about Boxing, " if you're not careful, you can get your brain shook and your money took".   Boxing is populated by the con men extraordinaire like Don King and Bob Arum but as the financial meltdown uncovered, fraud and deception can happen in many areas of your life.

We all need discipline to order our thoughts and direct our existence down a safe path. No use getting killed on Grad night because your driver is plastered and driving like a madman. Life is too interesting to end tragically before it even gets started. Where do we find direction that serves our needs?

I have cobbled together information from a number of sources to serve that purpose for myself. To create a lifestyle that is satisfying, healthy and makes a contribution to society at large, even if it is no more than paying taxes. Have faith that what you can conceive and dream of you can achieve:

"If one advances confidently in the direction of
his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he
has imagined, he will meet with a success
unexpected in common hours."
- H.D. Thoreau

The secret of making something work in our lives is first of all, the deep desire to make it work: then the faith and belief that it can work: then to hold that clear vision in your consciousness and see it working out step by step, without one thought of doubt or disbelief.

Belief in your dreams is the key any achievement you want for your time on this revolving spec of dust. It keeps you motivated and doing your best everyday to move in the direction of your goals.






*(Noosphere (/ˈnəʊ.əˌsfɪə/; sometimes noösphere), according to the thought of Vladimir Vernadsky and Teilhard de Chardin, denotes the "sphere of human thought". The word is derived from the Greek νούς ("nous"; en."mind") + σφαίρα (sfaira; en."sphere"), in lexical analogy to "atmosphere" and "biosphere"..)